Resistive implant welding carbon fiber filled thermoplastic composite components for automotive applications has created challenges due to the conductivity of the carbon fiber fillers. These problems have been addressed by using highly conductive mesh materials such as that set forth in the copending application entitled RESISTIVE IMPLANT WELDING CARBON FIBER THERMOPLASTICS USING HIGHLY CONDUCTIVE MESH U.S. Ser. No. 61/978,042 filed Apr. 10, 2014 now International Application number PCT/IB2015/052485 filed 6 Apr. 2015 published as WO2015155669 A1, which applications are incorporated herein by reference as part of the present invention.
Even though the art is advanced by the enhancements above, resistive implant welding becomes complex due to three dimensional shapes commonly used in automotive panel lift gates and front end modules and the like. When the angles of the surfaces get sharp and/or the surfaces themselves are complex, the mesh gets contorted to an extent that the functionality in resistive implant welding is reduced or causes failure.
Thus, there is a need in the art to provide a process using resistive implant welding for tight angles and other complex three dimensional surfaces.